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Originally Posted by Leo_The_Lip
No, the economic fan base of the Yankees and Dodgers is quite different from the Angels and Mets. My observations over the decades is that Yankee and Dodger fans have a much higher median level of wealth than the Mets/Angels fans.
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We're still talking about the same city, and thus, the same economic locale, the same economic market: the New York City metropolitan area. That the Yankees have tapped into that area more effectively than have the Mets (or the Giants or Dodgers, if you go further back) is a reflection on its organizational abilities.
Unless, that is, you wish to subdivide the New York City metropolitan area into smaller, discrete economic markets. (And there may be justification in doing so.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leo_The_Lip
And, if anything, Met and Angel fans have more loyalty than Yankee and Dodger fans because they HAVE TO in order to exist at all. Interest, for me, is the front-runner syndrome and the better teams gain that type of fan quite easily. I do not think OOTP models this behavior accurately at all. The casual fan switches teams with ease, particularly in NY and LA where there are far more of them.
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Regardless of the discussion around fan interest and loyalty (my thoughts on these are not carved in stone, and I am happy to hear other viewpoints on the subjects), the point remains that the economic capacity of the locale has a huge impact on the financial well-being on the the club residing in that locale.
If the Yankees moved to Topeka, Kansas, it is highly unlikely the club would continue generating hundreds of millions of dollars in local revenue from ticket sales, club seats and luxury suites, concessions, advertising, and local broadcasting since the Topeka area has only a fraction of the population and per capita income of the New York City metropolitan area.